With an edge in name recognition, Connecticut businessman and former U.S. Senate candidate
Ned Lamont leads the pack in the Democratic primary race for Governor, where almost half of the
voters remain undecided, and has small leads over Republican contenders, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll released today.

On the Republican side, 59 percent are undecided, with 17 percent for former ambassador
Tom Foley and 8 percent for Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele. No other Republican tops 6 percent.

In possible general election matchups:

Lamont edges Foley 38 - 36 percent;

Lamont tops Fedele 41 - 32 percent;

Malloy beats Foley 37 - 33 percent;

Malloy leads Fedele 37 - 31 percent.

Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz tops the Democratic pack for State
Attorney General with 62 percent, with 10 percent for former Democratic State Chairman George
Jepson and 24 percent undecided.

"The big winner in the primaries for Governor is 'Undecided.' With most of the
candidates largely unknown, voters aren't expressing a preference in the gubernatorial primaries
yet," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

"On the Democratic side, Ned Lamont has taken the 'lead' with the exit of Susan
Bysiewicz, but much of that is due to his greater name recognition. Malloy is within striking
range and it is possible for a lesser known candidate to emerge."

"Two Greenwich millionaires - Foley and Lamont - are leading the pack for the
nomination for Governor. At a time when a lot of Connecticut families are hurting because of
the tough economy, how will that play?" Dr. Schwartz asked.

By a 49 - 14 percent margin, Connecticut voters have a favorable opinion of Bysiewicz,
with 36 percent who don't know enough about her to form an opinion.

Lamont gets a 35 - 21 percent favorability, as 42 percent don't know enough about him
to form an opinion.

The "don't know enough" number for other candidates for Governor or Attorney General
ranges from 59 percent to 96 percent.

"Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz has to feel good about her poll numbers. Despite the
controversy over whether she has been in 'active practice' as an attorney for 10 years, which
broke as the poll was in the field, she is the clear favorite over the virtually unknown George
Jepsen in the Democratic primary. And her favorability numbers have remained high. But if this
story doesn't go away, this could change," Schwartz said.

School Bus Seat Belts

Connecticut voters support 73 - 20 percent proposed legislation to require seat belts on
school buses in the state. Parents of public school students support the measure 73 - 22 percent.
Women back it 79 - 14 percent while men support it 66 - 27 percent.

There is strong support across party lines and in every area of the state.

From January 14 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,594 Connecticut registered voters
with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The survey includes 593 Democrats with a
margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points and 420 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 4.8
percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201,
or follow us on Twitter.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the Democratic primary for Governor were being
held today and the candidates were Ned Lamont, Dan Malloy, Mary Glassman, Gary
LeBeau, Rudy Marconi, Jim Amann and Juan Figueroa, for whom would you vote?

TREND: (If registered Democrat) If the Democratic primary for Governor were
being held today and the candidates were Ned Lamont, Dan Malloy, Mary Glassman,
Gary LeBeau, Rudy Marconi, Jim Amann and Juan Figueroa, for whom would you vote?

2. (If registered Democrat) If the Democratic primary for State Attorney General
were being held today and the candidates were Susan Bysiewicz, George Jepsen and
Michael Jarjura, for whom would you vote?

3. (If registered Republican) If the Republican primary for Governor were being
held today and the candidates were Tom Foley, Mike Fedele, Oz Griebel, Mark
Boughton and Larry DeNardis, for whom would you vote?